No. 3 CV stuns second-seeded Sutter 35-31 in D-II semifinal

Falcons head into D-II title bout with archrival West Valley Eagles

KIRK BARRON/MARYSVILLE-APPEAL DEMOCRAT
Central Valley High running back Connor Silveria breaks a tackle on a 58-yard touchdown run in Friday’s 35-31 win.

NSCIF SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I

No. 1 Enterprise 57, No. 5 Foothill 14

No. 2 Paradise 45, No. 3 Chico 12

DIVISION II

No. 1 West Valley 34, No. 4 Orland 10

No. 3 CV 35, No. 2 Sutter 31

DIVISION IV

No. 3 Fall River 28, No. 2 Biggs 21

NSCIF FINALS

DIVISION VI

No. 2 (North) Redding Christian 54, No. 3 (North) Butte Valley 6

The riddle of the Central Valley High football Wing-T offense proved too difficult for the Sutter defense to solve as the Falcons rumbled for 462 yards on the ground en route to a 35-31 victory Friday night in the Division II semifinals.

With the victory, the No. 3 Falcons silenced the home crowd of the No. 2 Huskies and earned a shot at a Valley Bowl rematch against No. 1 West Valley next Saturday in the D-II championship.

CV took a 21-12 lead into halftime, but the Huskies used an onside kick and two trick play touchdowns to take a 31-28 lead with a little more than 9 minutes left in the game.

The Falcons responded with a 15-play scoring drive that took more than 4 minutes off the clock and Connor Silveria finished the drive with his third touchdown run of the game.

Jesus Gutierrez kicked the extra point, his fifth of the game, which was the difference in the game — Sutter made just one extra point.

Sutter went 3-and-out on its final drive and Silveria ran for two first downs to seal the game.

Silveria had a monster first half, running for scores of 60 and 58 yards and accumulating 226 yards on 28 carries total.

Tony Penta ran for 86 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 54 yards from quarterback Tim Naylor.

Sawyer McDonald ran for 158 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, making up for a fumble in the first half which went out of the back of the endzone for a touchback at the end of a 42-yard run. McDonald also had a strip-sack of Sutter quarterback Randy Post which defensive tackle Bryce Stevens recovered.